Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica has today (Friday) signed an agreement with LaLiga, the new brand name for the Spanish Football League, for the domestic pay-television rights to club football in the 2015-16 season.
Telefónica said the €600m ($670.8m) agreement grants it the exclusive exploitation rights to the top two division of Spanish football, Liga BBVA and Liga Adelante, along with all pay-television rights for Copa del Rey matches.
A statement read: “Telefónica and LaLiga express their satisfaction with this agreement for the 2015-16 season, which is considered also beneficial for the rest of the operators, clubs and supporters.”
A centralised rights model for the Spanish game had been planned for the 2016-17 season, but has been brought forward after the Mediapro agency agreed to cancel its one-season deals with 38 of the 42 Primera and Segunda División clubs for 2015-16. This allowed these rights to be passed to LaLiga.